Daily Gratitude: Ah, change – my favorite subject- ha ha. We all know that nothing stays the same but we sure don’t embrace it while it’s happening. However, later we may not even remember what it was we were upset with. You know my favorite saying (and this really is my favorite) “everything always works out for me”. Well, that includes the things that seem painful at first. For instance, my being rejected at medical school-not once but twice. Boy was that painful. I thought my life was ending. But as time went by I realized how it was one of the best things that happened to me. There was a new path and it was the better path. So once again I proved to myself that the universe is smarter than me. When you write something like that, it seems like a big “duh” but when you’re in the middle of it, you can’t see it. That’s why when I learned to say my mantra, I was able to “let go” (another hard thing for most of us) and let then universe put all that goodness in front of me. I don’t have to understand it right away. I just have to have faith that the universe is always looking out for me. It wants to keep me from stepping in that hole I’m headed for. I just had to learn to listen and heed its advice.

Daily Gratitude: We all need a saying like this. It’s a mantra – something you say repeatedly when needed. For instance, use it when you start to berate yourself and hear that voice yelling inside your head “you’re stupid; you’re ugly; who do you think you are; you can’t succeed at this … or anything; etc. Using this mantra/saying/affirmation over and over again will help drown out that negative voice and when said enough will overwrite that same voice. It’s meant to interrupt the pattern of your negative voice. Try this or something similar when you hear that bad self- talk and see what happens after several weeks.

Daily Gratitude: Sometimes we need to just slow down and see what’s around us. The saying I remember most from my Doula training and from Abode is “everything is important; nothing is urgent”. It’s kind of interesting that this would be the most memorable thing for an ER doctor (former ER doc Lol) where everything is urgent at least until proven otherwise. Perhaps it’s just the right time in my life for that to show up. I’ve also been forced to reconcile that life consists of the mundane as well as the “worthy”. Of course the “worth” is determined by that part (IFS) of me that wants to feel special and important and all knowing. Yes, that part that has gotten me into so much trouble all my life. So I have to step back and remind my parts that life is made up of contrast and without the mundane, i wouldn’t be able to do the “special”. Working with my parts has increased quite a bit since I’ve been doing different things and more meaningful things in the past few months (my daily call and my work as a death doula). This is the process. Uncovering and becoming aware of how all my parts are sitting around just waiting for their opportunity to pounce. This is the process and it’s good I’ve slowed that part down. Take some time and ask yourself what you’re concentrating on and concerned about. Do it now.